Shivering In the Alexander Coliseum

For most of last night's game, sophomore guard Adrian Bowie sat in between Braxton Dupree and assistant coach Keith Booth on the Terps' bench. And though he was wrapped in his warm-up garments most of the time, he still was seen shivering on several occassions. That'll happen when you've got a case of the flu coming on.

"It was kind of cold over there," Bowie said afterward.

We're pretty sure that was the flu talking. Bowie said he had trouble sleeping Saturday night and woke up with a 102-degree fever. He nearly fainted getting off the elevator on his way to the team breakfast Sunday morning.

Parametics, as well as team trainer J.J. Bush, examined Bowie, who felt good enough to eat with his teammates and then attend the team's morning shoot-around at 10 a.m.

But after taking a few free throws, Bowie took a seat on the bench. And it was then, Gary Williams said, that he knew Bowie would not be at full strength against the Yellow Jackets.

Around noon, Georgia Tech sent a doctor over to look at Bowie. The doctor told Williams that it appeared Bowie had "a pretty good case of the flu coming on." And still, Bowie wanted to give it a try later that night. He took some medication, which lowered his temperature a little, according to Williams, but there were still doubts as to whether he'd be able to play at all.

Though his offensive production had waned in recent games, Bowie has been one of the Terps biggest threats since the start of ACC play. Williams noted that Bowie provides "that explosion in the backcourt. He can drive through somebody to score, make a play that might be bigger than two points or something."

That was the component Maryland figured it would miss the most with Bowie out of the lineup.

Bowie performed all the warmup drills and stretches and whatnot. But he said he knew he didn't have his legs underneath him. So about 20 minutes before tip-off, Williams let junior guard Eric Hayes know he'd be filling in for Bowie in the starting lineup.

With just more than 14 minutes remaining in the first half, Bowie entered the game. But on the next Georgia Tech possession, Georgia Tech guard Iman Shumpert snuck behind Bowie for an alley-hoop dunk. Bowie was subbed out only one minute after coming in.

The fact that Bowie even made it out on the court to begin with is admirable. But in the end, Bowie could not overcome an illness that reduced him to a shivering observer.

If you saw that team documentary/infomercial back in November called "The Proving Ground" on Comcast SportsNet, there was footage of the whole Maryland team getting their flu shots prior to the season. Didn't the team realize they were jinxing themselves by allowing that scene to be broadcast?

Anyway, the shots aren't 100% effective, plus there are lots of illnesses that just get called "the flu" or "flu-like symptoms" that aren't technically influenza.